2. March 31 Virginia Department of Education Report:
Graduation, Completion & Dropout Data

3. Report analyzed cohort of students 2004-2008
The report details outcomes for students who entered the ninth-grade for the first time in 2004 and were scheduled to graduate in the spring of 2008.
The report shows Graduation, Completion & Dropout Data
Rockingham County’s results are shown on the next two pages along with the state results.

4. RCPS exceeded the state’s graduation rate in every category
< indicates a group below the state definition for personally identifiable results.

5. Graduation, Completion, and Dropout Rates
< indicates a group below the state definition for personally identifiable results.

6. As shown on the local news media, RCPS had the highest graduation rate in the area.

7. State analysis of the data showed:
Students in the cohort who repeated grades, attended multiple schools and who were frequently absent were more likely to drop out:
58.8 percent of the students in the cohort who dropped out repeated at least one grade during high school and 37.4 percent repeated their freshman year.
42.2 percent of the students who dropped out were ninth and tenth graders aged 17-years old or older.
30.5 percent of the dropouts attended two or more high schools before ending their high school careers compared with 14.6 percent of the students in the cohort who graduated.
29.4 percent of the dropouts had attendance rates of less than 80 percent during the year before they exited school, compared with 2.1 percent of the students in the cohort who graduated.
65.2 percent of dropouts had attendance rates of less than 80 percent during their final year of school compared with 3.8 percent of graduates.

8. State analysis of the data showed:
Fifty-five percent of the dropouts left school before the eleventh grade
26.9 percent dropped out during the ninth grade
28.0 percent dropped out during their sophomore year
24.4 percent dropped out during the eleventh grade
20.7 percent dropped out as seniors.

9. The entire report may be downloaded from the DOE Website
High school cohort reports for schools, school divisions and the commonwealth are available for viewing and downloading in the Virginia School Report Card section of the VDOE Web site. (